By Karen Conley, President, CEO and founder of Charity for Change
When we start life, it’s about our needs and desires. As babies and toddlers, it feels like the world genuinely revolves around us. It is when we begin interacting with other people that we develop traits such as tolerance and compassion. And the hope is that these learned traits will fully mature and stick with us into adulthood.
Tolerance & Compassion Go Hand-in-Hand
Tolerance is the ability to respect and accept the differences of others. Compassion is the ability to feel empathy for another’s struggles and want to give them comfort. With tolerance, we can make room in our lives for people from different backgrounds, and the addition of compassion makes us better able to relate to them and care about their lives.
Tolerance and compassion are seeds of growing perspective, helping children set aside their own beliefs in favor of understanding the feelings and actions of others. By taking this extra step to view the world outside themselves, children flourish into caring and thoughtful people who are open-minded and cooperative.
Tolerance & Compassion Are Tools for Resiliency
Tolerance and compassion help cultivate and strengthen a child’s resilience. The tools of tolerance and compassion help children see the humanity in others by:
- Accepting and respecting people for who they are
- Connecting on a deeper level and finding common ground
- Developing empathy and a desire to help others through volunteering or charity
- Having a positive impact on their own physical and mental health
The more tolerant and compassionate a child is, the better they handle situations outside their control. By gaining perspective, they can view conflict and challenges through a more thoughtful lens and better understand the people involved. Realizing that nobody is perfect and that we all bring our own life experiences with us will help children create authentic connections and boost their social and emotional intelligence.
In turn, this teaches children the importance of self-compassion for themselves. Having the ability to understand their own feelings, accept them, and forgive their own fumbles, makes children better able to understand, accept and forgive others. These life skills give them the confidence and resilience to meet and adapt to life’s challenges.
Encourage Tolerance & Compassion
We can do things at home and school to help nurture and support tolerance and compassion in young people. Some ideas to consider:
- Play With Others – Having time for play is not just a way to expel energy. It’s an important ritual that allows children to meet new people, form bonds and connections, and test relationship boundaries in a safe, imaginative environment.
- Make Gifts – Gifts do not have to be for the holidays. Kids can make gifts for a classmate who is sick, a relative they miss, or a card for patients at a child’s hospital or veterans.
- Collect Items – With your child, think of different things you could collect together and learn more about together. You could collect maps or coins from different places – even quarters from other states. When you add to your collection, talk about the differences and similarities and their meaning.
Developing tolerance and compassion for others is a crucial part of a child’s growth to becoming an adult that can successfully live and thrive in a diverse, demanding world.
